(BURLINGTON, Vt.) — Authorities in Vermont are warning ice fishers to stay off the ice of a lake after three people died in the last week.
The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department told people on Tuesday not to go on the ice at Lake Champlain while the area experiences warm weather.
According to Vermont State Police, 62-year-old Wayne Alexander died after falling through the ice on the lake on Thursday.
Officials found Alexander in the lake around 9:30 p.m. that night, where he was wearing a flotation device.
He was pronounced dead at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, police said.
According to law enforcement officials, two brothers, John Fleury, 71, and Wayne Fleury, 88, were killed after their utility task vehicle broke through the ice on Saturday.
Organizers of the 43rd annual Islands Ice Fishing Derby canceled the event in a post on Facebook on Saturday at the urging of the local sheriff’s department because of the conditions of the ice.
The area near Lake Champlain, which is located between New York and Vermont, has experienced warmer temperatures in recent weeks, according to the U.S. National Weather Service Burlington.
Montpelier and St. Johnsbury recently recorded their warmest January on record, according to NWS Burlington.
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